Razorfish joined the trend of dot-com cutbacks yesterday by slashing 8 to 10 percent from its staff.

A spokesman for the veteran Alley Web shop, which was until now the poster child for rapid growth, hastened to characterize the cuts as “part of a global performance improvement plan,” which included hirings as well as firings. “We’ve been profitable from Day 1, and we’ve taken decisive steps to maintain that position,” said Toby Usnik.

The company will shed “8 to 10 percent” of its 2,000 employees, spread over its 15 offices on three continents. Usnik said it had not been determined who would be fired, although some of the cuts had already begun in Europe.

“Managing directors in each office will work with senior management to determine the best way to proceed,” he said. “In some cases, the emphasis will be on business development; in others, it’ll be changes in processes. It’s a holistic program.”

Although CEO Jeff Dachis could not be reached for comment, the company said. “We’re responding to market demand, and at the moment what clients want are more mobile and broadband offerings.”

Razorfish has grown considerably since its Downtown beginnings as a Web design firm. With the $677 million acquisition of Boston’s i-Cube in August 1999, the firm made its move into the heavyweight technical consulting field, occupied by the likes of Scient as well as giants such as Arthur Andersen and IBM.

Razorfish stock closed down 13 cents, or 2.63 percent, at $4.94.

The company’s stock has proved exceptionally vulnerable this year. It ran up over the winter to a dizzying 52-week high of $56.94 but has fallen just as quickly.

It took a 14 percent hit in August when president Mike Pehl turned in his resignation amid rumors that the former i-Cube boss could no longer work with the company’s flamboyant founders, Jeff Dachis and Craig Kanarick.

It took another pounding, dropping 45 percent in one day two weeks ago to hit a 52-week low of $4.19. On Oct. 9 the company warned that earnings would disappoint the Street. The company blamed “greater-than-expected’ seasonal weakness in its European operations and a strong dollar, and promised that managerial heads would roll.

However, spokesman Usnik denied that yesterday’s layoffs were connected with the earnings warning, citing the company’s SEC-mandated quiet period ahead of its Oct. 24 earnings report.

Styling itself as a “global digital solutions provider,” the company has invested heavily in the wireless arena, opening three offices in Scandinavia and three in Germany. It just launched Mobile Buddies, a cell phone tool allowing users to send text messages to each other as well as to discover their geographic locations, but it has also done work on the Navy’s internal computer system, as well as providing the interface for 3Com’s first Internet appliance, Audrey, which was launched this week.